Creating a healthy balance one sip at a time.

Month: January 2015

When I first created Corks and Kale I didn’t really have a goal or purpose in mind. I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and I thought that it was something I could do also. The problem has been that since I don’t have a goal or purpose, I don’t really know what to write about…therefore leaving a lot of blank days and weeks in between posts. So, I’ve decided to define what Corks and Kale really is and use it how I feel is best.

I work in marketing at a construction company. No, not my dream job, but it is a good job and I enjoy the work and my coworkers. But construction marketing definitely isn’t my passion–so I’ve thought a lot about what my passion really might be. To make things easier, I thought about my favorite things to talk about. That was really easy to identify: healthy living and savings animals–and all the science and research behind both. Those two topics really get me going and on a talking train that is hard to get me off of.

So, instead of random rants all the time (might get those some of the time still!) I’m going to focus more on what I really care about and that’s a healthy lifestyle along with some animal loving. And wine. Because well, wine is definitely a part of my healthy lifestyle.

I haven’t always had a healthy relationship with food or my body, though. Here’s a little history:

In college I was an athlete…but not like a basketball or volleyball player. I played golf in college, which meant I spent lots of time walking and some time working out, but really didn’t have a very active lifestyle outside of that. Not to mention BEER, pizza, grilled cheese, Chipotle, McDonalds…you name it, I probably put it in my body. I put on a solid 30 lbs in college. Freshman 15…HA! I blew past that goal!

I was aware of my weight for sure–but didn’t think it was really a big deal. I was in a relationship (looking back it was a very damaging and horrible relationship), I had great friends, I was on a great golf team, and I wasn’t an awful student. But then I had a really dark moment…the kind that just scars you for life. There was this really awful girl who I did not get along with, and one day in front of a huge group of mutual friends and my boyfriend she called me a “fat pig who would no one would ever love” because of how ugly and huge I was. Whoever said words can’t hurt is lying….words really hurt. And even today, those words still stick in my mind.

That moment didn’t make me want to lose weight though. I was hurt and humiliated sure, but I still didn’t feel like I needed to make a huge life change.

After college graduation I got a great job and started getting myself together. I moved in with one of my best friends and we started cooking and working out together. The weight slowly started to fall.

The following winter, my dad had to have triple bypass surgery. He had heart disease and blocked arteries. There was a chance he wouldn’t make it out of there alive. My dad is one of my favorite people in the world–I couldn’t imagine leaving there without speaking to him again. Dad made it through the surgery and while he had some complications afterwards, he was able to resume a presumably normal life.

I realized that if I didn’t do something about my lifestyle right then, that heart disease could be in my future also. After becoming more educated, I quickly changed to a healthier, real-food, and (one year later) vegetarian diet.

Healthy living is more than just looking good. It’s a matter of life and death to me. I have to remind myself about that daily because while I’m not that girl anymore who got made fun of in college by the mean girl, I also don’t look like a model. But I’m healthy. My body is healthy, and that truly is what matters.

So, in a nutshell, I’m going to continue to blog about my fitness/diet journey–and we’ll try to save a few homeless pups at the same time.

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I didn’t want to be like all the other bloggers and post about NYE resolutions actually around Jan. 1–I figured I’d wait a few weeks and really build the suspense. I know most of you have been watching your blog roll looking for this exact post from me.

But really, life is busy. We are in contract on a house, our new baby niece entered this world, and well, life is just busy. But I’m rolling with it. It wasn’t too long ago that when I would be stressed or overwhelmed with even the littlest things that I would lose sleep, become irritable, and just not be that awesome to be around. As one of my resolutions and goals I set when I left my old job in September, I’ve decided that life is too short to just be stressed all the time.

With that said, I have some goals for 2015. Call them resolutions if you want, I’ll call them goals. Goals seem obtainable and I’m all about marking things off my list.

1. Travel more. This one is huge. We don’t have kids and we have a good amount of vacation time thanks to our jobs. We can make a million excuses not to travel (dog, money, time, etc.) but I know I’ll regret not using this time I have now. We are headed to Vegas in a few weeks and then have some smaller trips planned throughout the rest of the year. Nothing huge yet, but that’s okay.

2. Make yoga a habit. I love my yoga studio. It’s hot vinyasa yoga which means the room is close to 100 degrees and the movements are fast and hard. Definitely not your typical yoga class, but I know it is the best workout for my body. I mix it in with my other workouts and go once a week or every other week, but I really want to go try to go weekly or twice a week.

3. Do more DIY projects. We are buying a house that is missing a lot of things that I would love to have. Some are small (new coffee table), and some are huge (want to finish the basement). I don’t have a creative bone in my body and neither me or my husband are very handy. But, I really want us to try. I don’t want to always call someone, or buy something, I want to say, “hey, I made that/fixed that!”.

4. Shopping: quality over quanity. I’m getting way better at this but still have some work to do. I love shopping. My credit cards from the past (and present) will confirm that. Thankfully I’m past the Forever 21 days, but I still find myself buying just random pieces. I want to buy more high-quality clothes that will last longer and are yes, timeless.

5. Volunteer/give more to charity. I give regularly to PETA and the local dog shelter in town, but I know that’s not enough. I want to volunteer my time more. I don’t know where or how, but I do know that I can do a way better job of finding volunteer opps (besides pouring beer are festivals) that will help my community.

6. Stress less and enjoy more. This is the biggest one. I’m a control freak and I like things to go my way. When they don’t go my way I don’t exactly handle it the best. I’m learning to just let go. I can’t control everything and everyone so why even try?

Of course there are many other goals/resolutions that I have for this year, but these 6 are the big ones. 2014 was a big year and also a great year. I expect nothing less from 2015.